Xarde #2: Into the Hellscape is a comic created by L. Dean Gibson II. A dragon woman named Xarde travels to another world in an attempt to fix a sword and do about twenty other things. This comic is almost double the size of the average issue and it packs so much stuff within these pages. You WILL get confused and have to reread. This story almost seems like it was pulled from a Diablo-like role-playing game. Xarde’s supporting cast of characters are a shapeshifting creature named Homc and Chambora Delatrix, a member of the fae-dragon flight(flight means race in this context). We also see the return of Aleks, albeit much different than before. The plot is basically a bunch of fetch quests stacked on top of each other. Xarde needs to go do this, but she can’t do that until she does this, and that can’t happen until she talks to a person who can do that. And this story crawls. It also reads way longer than it is. The main reason for that is the dialogue. Knowing that ‘flight’ meant ‘race’ would’ve saved me oodles of time. And sometimes this comic goes on tangents and/or has odd panel transitions that will confuse you. There are some wordy pages but I don’ think it’s that bad overall. This comic has a good amount of action and it almost always follows some big talking section. It seemed like this comic was trying to be a “calm before the storm” issue and move the story along but it makes this a bit of a rough read.
This time around things are drawn a bit tighter but every now and then the detail goes from high to low seemingly randomly. The colors are done really well here, especially when they use magic or other mystical powers. This comic also moves all over the place. We go to an ancient Middle Eastern-inspired land, a modern city, and a medieval castle and its adjacent town. For the most part this is a very expressive comic with the characters showing their feelings on their face and with their bodies. Faces are drawn with varying amounts of detail so it’s hard to give it a real rating, but it is mostly above average. People here are drawn realistically but the less human creatures have some of the more fantastical features like horns, tentacles(stop it), jagged animal-like teeth. They also vary in size significantly from hulking giants to short kings. There are a number of violent scenes here, most resulting in blood-spilling of some sort. They have good flow and you shouldn’t get lost, though sometimes the jump from panel-to-panel seems a little far. There are a good number of “sexy” panels and scenes but this issue is so lengthy that the lewder parts are more spread out and it shouldn’t be a problem.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you like low fantasy tales starring dragon women with high amounts of violence and lengthy quests and also featuring supernatural creatures this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Very gruesome and…oh look, Xarde’s ripped her clothes off again.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“Foolish horn toad! She was seducing you.”
Indiegogo Link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/xarde-1-2-into-the-hellscape/x/26236710#/
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 44
Violent Pages: 14, for 32% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 3, for 7% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 5
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 4
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 3
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
